Dissecting Daffodils – KEHS

Once again, 3K were back in the Biology labs, armed with a lab coat, a daffodil, a scalpel and various other tools. Why? We were ready to get on with our new task: to dissect a daffodil!
Although many of us were eager to begin the experiment, research had to be undertaken beforehand. Indeed, as Neil Armstrong stated, “Research is creating new knowledge,” and we were learning about the different parts of a plant to assist us when performing the actual experiment.
As expected, the dissection started with a bang! We each collected our daffodil along with other tools such as scalpels, and began fascinating discovery of what was inside the daffodils. It was with utmost precision and accuracy that we had to remove the sepal(s) as well as other parts of the flower. Rather than our norm of animated chatter, only silence could be heard as we concentrated wholly in a state of disbelief. It was truly amazing to explore in depth what we thought was just a simple flower. We recorded the number of each part we found and what they looked like. The images below, taken by Annalisa, Amara and Priya show this stage of the process:
Next, we looked at certain flower parts under a microscope, such as the sepal(s) and the ovule. The images below were taken by Annalisa and Amara, and show close-up images of the eggs and a sepal:
This was a thoroughly interesting topic to work on, and I am sure other members of the class will join me in saying this too. It was a surreal experience to look inside something we take for granted, with such depth. Dissection was new for many of us, so we are really looking forward to the next dissection!